He disobeys us when there is no one with him...

He disobeys us when there is no one with him, so he would be more likely to disobey us when the flags and banners are gathered around him. The only exception is the one around whom the descendants of Fatima unite, for by Allah, your leader is none except that person around whom they unite.

When Rajab comes, come back (to us) by the Name of Allah, and if you wish to delay (coming back to us) until Sha’ban then there would be no harm in this, and if you wish to fast (the month of Ramadhan) with your families this may be better for you. [^1] Al-Sufayni will be sufficient as a sign for you.’” The tenth narration of the same chapter is similar to this one. The eleventh and fourteenth narrations are also similar in meaning.

It is apparent from the above authentic narration that at the time of Imam al-Sadiq (as) there were a number of uprisings by the descendants of the Prophet (pbuh) which were not supported by the Imam. They made false claims and disobeyed the Imam of truth. It is probable that the authentic narration is concerned with the uprising of Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Mahdh, the son of Hassan al-Muthanna, who is known as ‘the Pure Soul’. He rose up claiming to be the Mahdi.

Al-Kulayni has narrated with an authentic chain from Abdul Kareem al-Hashimi: “I was sitting in the presence of Abu Abdullah (Imam al-Sadiq as) in Mecca when a number of the leaders of the Mu’tazila entered upon him. This was around the time of the killing of al-Walid...until he said: they left their affair to Amr ibn Abeed who spoke eloquently and at length. Among that which he said was: ‘the people of Sham have killed their leader and Allah has made them fight one another and disunited them.

We looked and saw a man of intellect, religion, honour and a man worthy of leadership, and that man was Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hassan. We wished to unite around him and pay allegiance to him. We would then become victorious with him. Anyone who follows us will be from us and we will be from him. Whoever stays away from us, we will leave him alone.

Whoever stands against us, we will stand against him and fight him because of his transgression and in order to return him to truth and to those who deserve it. We wished to put this before you so that you may join us because we are not needless of the likes of you because of your status and the great number of your followers.’ When he finished, Abu Abdullah (Imam Sadiq as) said: ‘Are you all of the same opinion as Amr?’ They said: ‘yes’.